Exemplary embodiments of the invention relate to a transportable roller compactor for compacting waste located in an open-top container. The roller compactor has a frame-like base structure, which can be mounted on a loading surface of a truck or trailer. The base structure carries an articulated arm, which at a free end carries a roller compactor, which is rotatable about a horizontal axis of rotation.
For compacting waste in a container, such a transportable roller compactor is mounted on a loading surface of a truck or trailer and then moved to a front side of an upwardly open container. The compactor roller located at the free end of the articulated arm is lowered into the container. In a pivoting movement of the articulated arm, the compactor roller is moved back and forth in the container, thereby compressing and/or comminuting the waste in the container. The compactor roller is usually rotatable by means of a drive and has a structured surface, for example, with protruding spikes or teeth, in order to be able to effectively comminute and compact the waste in the container.
A transportable roller compactor of this type is known, for example, from the European patent publication EP 1 513 674 B1. The articulated arm of this construction is composed of three mutually pivotable sections and is pivotally mounted at the rear end of the frame of the base structure. By means of at least two hydraulic cylinders, the section of the articulated arm that is rotatably mounted on the frame can be pivoted against the frame and the middle section of the articulated arm can be pivoted towards the frame-mounted section. The section of the articulated arm carrying the compactor roller is connected to the middle section in a free-swinging manner. From the working position at which the compactor roller is located in the container, the articulated arm can be brought into a transport position that is as flat as possible by first placing the middle section of the articulated arm as high as possible and almost vertically, and then pivoting the entire articulated arm via the pivot joint at its base onto the frame-like base structure. During the transition from rest to the working position, these pivoting movements are performed in the reverse order. The motion kinematics of the articulated arm can, however, be complicated because of the three-part design. In addition, the section of the articulated arm pivotably mounted on the frame must be able to be pivoted between a position that is as horizontal as possible and a vertical position without the free space under the frame construction being available for the used hydraulic cylinder. This produces unfavorable lever ratios when pivoting said frame-mounted section of the articulated arm out of its horizontal position.
German patent publication DE 10 2005 029 199 B4 also shows a transportable roller compactor with an articulated arm, which can be loaded onto a loading surface of a truck. In this case, the articulated arm is formed only from two sections that can be pivoted towards one another, one of which carries the compactor roller and the other is pivotably mounted on a support column mounted (as viewed in the direction of travel of the truck) at the rear end of the base of the roller compactor. Through the support column the pivot joint of the pivot arm lies above the frame construction. A transition from the rest to the working position and vice versa is achieved in this roller compactor by a single pivoting movement of the articulated arm, wherein the pivotable section of the articulated arm is pivoted over the support column and is deposited on the frame construction. For this purpose, the pivot joint on the support column is designed such that it permits a pivoting movement through an angle of at least 90° about the horizontal axis. Due to the large pivot angle, the realization of the pivoting movement by a hydraulic drive is also complex in this construction.
In the case of the two aforementioned transportable roller compactors, the compactor roller is located, relative to the travelling direction, in the rear region of the roller compactor in the rest position, i.e., in the position in which the roller compactor is transported. Since the compactor roller has a substantial share of the weight of the roller compactor, this results in an unfavorable weight distribution for transport.
Accordingly, exemplary embodiments of the present invention are directed to a transportable roller compactor in which a transition from a rest position of the articulated arm into a working position can be effected by uncomplicated movements of the articulated arm and in which, in a rest position, the articulated arm is folded onto the base structure. The compactor roller is preferably positioned in a front portion of the roller compactor.
A transportable roller compactor according to the invention of the type mentioned above includes the articulated arm pivotably mounted on a carriage, which is mounted on the frame-like base structure, so as to be displaceable in a longitudinal direction.
Because the articulated arm is not mounted directly on the base, its mounting point on the base structure can be changed between a rest position for the articulated arm and a working position, thus allowing a rest position to be set in a favorable weight distribution of the roller compactor. In addition, the transition between rest and working position requires only a small pivot angle for the articulated arm because it no longer has to be pivoted over its mounting point.
In an advantageous embodiment of the transportable roller compactor, the frame-like base structure has longitudinal beams running on both longitudinal sides and on which the carriage is guided. The longitudinal beams required for mechanical stabilisation in any case, are used as guides for the movable carriage, as a result of which additional guide rails can be dispensed with.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the transportable roller compactor, the articulated arm is pivotably mounted on the carriage via a pivot joint and a support column. Preferably, the pivot joint has a pivot angle of less than 90° and preferably less than 75°. Such a small pivot angle is sufficient, since the articulated arm does not have to be pivoted over the support column because of the movable carriage for assuming the rest position.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the transportable roller compactor, the carriage can be moved on the base structure by means of a chain or rack drive that is operated hydraulically or electromotively. Both types of drive can be implemented in a simple and space-saving manner.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the transportable roller compactor, the articulated arm has two articulated arm members, which can be pivoted relative to each other, of which a first articulated arm member, which is mounted on the carriage, is cranked. The configuration of the articulated arm with only two parts simplifies its construction and movement kinematics. In the rest position, the cranked articulated arm member permits a space-saving positioning of the compactor roller under the first articulated arm member while the support column is simultaneously low.
Particularly preferably, the compactor roller is deposited in the rest position on the movable carriage. In the rest position of the articulated arm, the carriage is preferably located on a front end of the frame-like base structure, as viewed in the direction of transport, while in the working position of the articulated arm it is located at a rear end of the frame-like base structure, as viewed in the direction of transport.